Tramper-press.



R. E. WILSON.

TRAMPER PRESS. APPLICATION FILED mm: 23, 1911.

Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

RUB. WILSON.

TRAMPER PRESS.

APPLIUATION FILED IUNBfig, 1911.

v Patented Apr.9, 1912 Mun - ammo o collUMnlA PMNDGRAPH (20.. WASHINGTON: 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT onmon.

RALPH E. WILSON, OF DALLAS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR T 0 CONTINENTAL GIN COMPANY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TRAMPER-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9,1912.

AppIication'fiIed June 28, 1911. Serial N o. 634,911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH E. WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TramperPresses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in presses, such for instance, as are designed for pressing cotton into bales, and is especially applicable to that type of presses having a cylinder and piston for operating a platen or tramper, the cylinder being adapted for the reception of motive fluid, such as steam, water, air or the like, although it will be understood that certain features of the invention may be effectively used in that type of presses in which the platen is operated by mechanical means. The two types of press referred to are well known in the art, and specific detail description or more than general reference to them is unnecessary for an understanding of the present invention.

One object of the present invention is to provide an effective means for automatically controlling the power mechanism for operating the tramper platen or follower, whereby the platen or follower will be caused to descend when the proper quantity of material fed to the presshas accumulated in front of the platen, andwhereby the platen will be again retracted and left in its retracted position, thus automatically completingthe excursion of the platen without the necessity of manual manipulation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the platen or follower will be caused to dwell at or near the limit of its excursion whereby the full benefit of the expansion of the motive fluid may be obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for automatically insuring the return of the trip board or apron to its initial position after each operation of the platen or follower, the trip board or apron being the part which is directly engaged and operated by the accumulated material fed to the press.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the platen controlling devices may be manually locked or unlocked so as to prevent the operation of the platen, except when desired by the attendan The invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangement of parts, all as will be now described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying draw- 1ngs,Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a controlling mechanism designed for manipulating a throttle valve for admittingsteam or other motive fluid to the ends of a platen operating cylinder;

Fig. 2 is a detail view looking at the opposite side of the constantly driven operating disk, from that shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the major parts relating to the present invention and illustrated in Fig. 1; Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the releasing and disengaging latch for the valve actuator; Fig. 6 is a detail elevation of the manually controlled lock; Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the part shown in Fig. 6;

and Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 7

Like letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

In said drawings, the letter A indicates a power cylinder having the usual piston therein for actuating the tramper platen or follower, and B indicates a trip or apron, preferably hinged at its upper edge and located immediately above the mouth of the press on the side opposite that from which the cotton is fed to the press. a

It will be understood that the cotton is fed to the press by any suitable form of feeding mechanism, preferably a feeding mechanism operated by a crank shaft 0, but the particular construction of which forms no part of the present invention. The cotton fed to the press, it will be understood,

wardly extending arm 7) thereon, which, through suitable connections, is adapted to connect and disconnect the valve operating mechanism to and from a constantly rotating disk D, Fig. 2, mounted on a shaft E and receiving its motion preferably through a sprocket wheel 0 and a drive chain e which also serves as the means for driving the feeding mechanism operated by the crank shaft C. The drive chain 6 receives its motion from any suitable power shaft, such, for instance, as the shaft 6 forming part of the condenser from which the cotton is delivered to the feeding mechanism.

The disk D is peripherally toothed or notched as shown at d, and works in a casing F having a peripheral flange f sur rounding the periphery of the disk, but provided at the top with a transverse slot or opening f and a narrow longitudinal slot or opening F. The slot or opening f is slightly at one side of the plane of the disk, and in it works the downwardly inclined end 9 of a latch Gr, Figs. 4 and 5, guided in a bearing H on the disk casing and forming one end of a trip lever link I, the opposite end of which is pivotally connected with the upwardly extending arm 7) of the trip board or apron. The latch G is of angular formation, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to permit the link to be located at one side of the casing, as shown in Fig. 8, and the inclined end 9 of the latch to properly enter the slot. This latch is also provided with an end shoulder g which is below the bottom of the notches in the disk at the top of the disk. On the opposite side of the disk from trip lever link I, is a valve lever link K, guided in proximity to the disk in a vertical guide L and having at its end a transverse projection or pin is normally adapted to rest on the latch Gr, but when released, as by the forward movement of the latch, to drop down and rest upon the periphery of the disk and to enter one of the notches therein. Inasmuch as the disk is notched, the pin will be carried around by the disk, being held in the notch by the peripheral flange of the casing, and will impart to the valve lever link K, a longitudinal movement equal to the diameter of the disk. As the pin 76, approaches its normal position at the top of the disk it first contacts with the shoulder g, thereby pushing the trip lever link I back to its initial position and then rides up the incline g out of engagement with the disk, permitting the disk to continue its rotation without further movement of the valve lever link. The movement of the trip lever link by the pin, returns the trip board or apron to its initial position, ready for another operation, and it is obvious that the movement of the valve lever link may be utilized for causing the operation of the platen or plunger either through the proper manipulation of a valve, where fluid pressure and a cylinder are employed or by the manipulation of clutches or gearing where mechanical powers are employed for operating the platen.

In the preferred arrangement, and as illustrated in the drawings, a control or throttle valve M is provided, which valve will admit pressure to opposite ends of the cylinder A and the moving parts of the valve are operated by a valve lever N. The valve lever N is provided with a pin or stud a working in a slot 2' in the valve lever link K, which slot 2' is preferably of a length substantially equal to the radius of the disk D.

lVith the parts in their normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the platen is retracted or in inoperative position, and the pin a is at the inner end of the slot 2'. Upon the movement of the trip board or apron to operate the latch and release the valve lever link so that it may engage the disk, the said link will begin to advance and during the first quarter of its revolution will move the valve lever a distance equal to the radius of the disk, thereby operating the valve to admit motive fluid above the piston for advancing the platen. During the second. quarter of the revolution of the disk the valve lever link travels in the opposite direction a distance equal to the length of the slot thus leaving the valve lever stationary during this period and affording ample time for the platen to advance and dwell, or for the full utilization of the expansion of the motive fluid. During the third quarter of the revolution of the disk, the

pin it engages the outer end of the slot 2',-

draws the valve lever back to its initial position and reverses the movement of the platen, leaving the latter in its elevated position. During the fourth quarter of the travel of the disk the pin 75 on the valve lever link comes in contact with the shoulder g, restores the trip lever link and trip board to their initial positions, and finally rides up the incline 9 out of engagement with the disk, thereby leaving the parts in their initial position and ready for another operation upon the accumulation of sufficientmaterial to operate the trip board or apron.

Under certain circumstances it is desirable that the parts should be locked against operation and that such lock should be under the manual control of the attendant. To accomplish this a weighted crank shaft 0, Figs. 6 and 7, is journaled in bearings 0 on the frame, and one of its arms or cranks O is provided with an end fork 0 adapted to engage the lever 72 so as to hold the same rigidly against movement in either direction. The crank shaft 0 is provided with an adjustable weight P, normally tending to move the locking arm or crank 0 into engagement with the lever or arm I). For holding the arm out of engagement the shaft is provided with a second arm Q having an aperture therethrough for the reception of the upper end of a pull rod R, the lower end of which extends down into position for convenient manipulation by the attendant. It may be provided with any suitable means, whereby it may be held down, so as to hold the lock out of operative position, but upon being released by the attendant the lock is released and becomes automatically effective for preventing the operation of the valve and platen or follower.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a single power driven rotary disk, controlling means for a platen actuating mechanism and mechanism for both coupling the said controlling means and disk together and for uncoupling the same operated by the pressure of the accumulated material fed to the press.

2. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a single power driven rotary disk, a control lever for a platen actuating mechanism, a single control lever link, and means actuated by the accumulated material fed to the press for both coupling.

and uncoupling said disk and link.

3. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a power driven disk, a control lever for a platen actuating mechanism, a control lever link, a projection on the link adapted to engage with the disk for moving the lever in both directions, and means actuated by the accumulated material fed to the press for controlling the engagement of the projection and disk.

4. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a power driven rotary disk having recesses therein, a casing for the disk, a control lever for a platen actuating mechanism, a link associated with said lever, and having a projection thereon adapted to enter the recesses in the disk and be held therein by the casing, and a latch actuated by the accumulated material ted to the press and upon which latch the projection normally rests out of engagement with the disk.

5. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a power driven rotary disk having peripheral recesses therein, a

casing for the disk having an'opening therein, a control lever link for a platen actuating mechanism, having a projection adapted to engage in the recesses in the disk, a latch controlled by the accumulated material fed to the press and having a face for normally supporting the projection in the opening in the casing out of engagement with the notches in the disk.

6. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a power driven rotary disk having peripheral recesses the-rein, a casing for the disk, a control lever link for a platen actuating mechanism having a pro jection adapted to engage in the recesses in the disk and be held therein by the casing, a latch controlled by the accumulated material fed to the press and having an inclined face for disengaging the projection and disk and adapted to release the projection when actuated by the accumulated material.

7. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a rotary notched disk, a pair of links, one of which is adapted to engage and be operated by the disk, but which is normally held out of engagement by the other link, means actuated by the accumulated material fed to the press for operating the last named link to release the other link, and a platen operating mechanism controlled by said other link.

8. A controlling mechanism for tramper presses embodying a rotary disk having peripheral notches, a link having a projection for engaging in said notches, a tramper valve lever, a loose connection between the lever and link whereby the lever may remain at rest during substantially one-half the stroke of the link, a latch for holding the link normally out of engagement with the disk, and means actuated by the accumulated cotton fed to the press for moving the latch to permit the link to engage with the disk.

9. The combination with an automatic control mechanism for a tramper press embodying a platen actuating mechanism, and means actuated by the accumulated cotton ted to the press for controlling the platen actuating mechanism, of a manually controlled lock for said controlling means whereby the operation of the platen may be prevented. F

RALPH E. WILSON.

\Vitnesses:

EUGENE MUNGER, B. H. GRAHAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

